Mourning and Remembering
by ThatCrazyItalian
Summary: After the sudden murder of a nation, what will his family do? And what did he die for? (originally called "Too Late")
1. Murder

Germany was relaxing in his office. In three days it would be Italy's birthday, and he couldn't wait for the chance to give him his present. He turned his gaze to the window. It was a beautiful day.

His phone started to ring. A smile came to his face; it was probably Italy wanting to talk to him. He eagerly picked up the telephone.

"Hello?"

"Germany!" cried out the pasta-loving country's frightened voice. "I'm trapped in Austria's house!"

Germany sighed. These calls were all too familiar. "I'll be right over." He said.

He quickly rose from his seat and grabbed his gun. It was about time he did something; he had been unproductive all day.

Luckily, Austria was nearby. All he had to do was hop in his jeep and drive over.

Maybe after he saved his friend, they could get pasta or something together; just the two of them!

Within minutes, he arrived at his neighbor's estate. He quickly drove in and parked his jeep. He leapt out and ran into the mansion.

As soon as he burst through the door, he knew something was wrong. No noise came from anywhere in the house. After a moment, though, he heard a small cry of pain. Germany froze for a second; it sounded just like Italy!

Germany ran towards the sound. He heard another cry of agony as he drew closer to his best friend.

Walking into that room was the worst mistake of Germany's life. What he saw there brought tears to his eyes.

Austria hovered over Italy, a bloody knife in his hand. Italy's coat was soaked with his own blood, and so was Austria. The pianist looked up and saw Germany in the doorway. Quickly, Germany drew his gun. His hand shook in anger and pain. He pulled the trigger and missed the musical, murderous country by a mile. After this, Austria ran out of the room, leaving him and Italy alone.

Germany looked over at Italy and ran towards him. The dying country turned his head to see his lover. "You made it…" his voice shook.

Germany took his hand. "You're going to be fine, don't worry. I won't let you die… You can't die…" Germany voice quavered as he looked into Italy's eyes, wide open in fear and pain.

"Germany…" Italy said quietly. "It's okay. You don't have to be sad."

"Don't talk like that!" he yelled, tears streaming down his face.

"Please…" Italy lifted a hand and touched his face. "Don't cry. I don't want you to do that…"

Germany knew he couldn't save his friend. It was already too late. His blood was spilling onto the wooden floors, turning them a deep red he had seen too much of over his many long years of life.

He didn't know what to do. After everything they had done together, after everything they talked about, after the war they fought together, how could it end like this?

"Germany, take me to your house." Italy looked up at the ceiling, his voice an unnerving, wistful calm. "I need to go there. When I die."

"I will." He whispered, looking into Italy's amber eyes.

Italy smiled and looked into Germany's soft blue eyes. He carefully pulled Germany into a final kiss. A tear fell from his amber eyes as he felt Germany for the last time. A shuddering breath came as he pulled from the embrace, his eyes wide in pain.

His chest stopped rising. His amber eyes were like glass, staring into nothingness. His kind heart stopped beating.

Germany began to panic. "Italy… come on… this isn't funny… wake up… I need you… ITALY!" he shouted, shaking his friend's body.

"You're not allowed to die! Come on, please wake up!

Italy didn't reply. Germany knew it was pointless to do this, but he didn't want to accept his friend dying. But one cannot bring the dead to life, and one must accept the passing of loved ones.

Germany collapsed into tears, holding Italy's dead body in his arms, trying to let go of his only friend.

He sat there for what seemed like eternity, feeling the warmth of Italy's body being replaced by the stone cold touch of death. He silently let go of Italy and closed his eyes.

Italy's final wish was for Germany to take him to his house. He wasn't about to let him down. Not after everything they had been through. Germany quietly picked up Italy and carried him to the jeep. He put his body into a large piece of cloth and folded him up inside of it, so that no passing country could see his face.

He started the jeep and moved forward slowly. Tears clouded his vision as he drove down the road.

Soon, he reached his house. He quietly went and picked up his dead friend and carried him inside.

"Prussia?" he called to his older brother, trying to keep his composure, feeling another wave of tears coming.

His older brother came rushing into the room. His brother's voice hadn't sounded like this in a long time. As soon as he saw the body in his brother's arms, he knew what had happened. There was only one country whom could make his little brother cry.

Without saying a word, he lifted up Italy's body from his brother's arms and carried it to the old sofa, opening the cloth so that he could see his body.

Prussia grabbed a nearby blanket and covered Italy completely, his head bowed in respect and sadness. Germany felt tears fall down his face once more, once again faced with the undeniable truth.

Finally, his older brother spoke. "Germany, you should go and call the others to let them know about… you know…" Prussia said quietly, not wanting to mention the fact that Italy was dead.

Germany nodded, choking on his tears, and went to his office.

Prussia looked at Italy and grabbed a special pendant. "I didn't know this would be so hard. I hope for Germany's sake this all goes as planned."

 **NOTE: Okay, this will be a pretty short fanfic. I hope you enjoyed Italy's death! It took some work to get it just right, but I think it is really good! HAVE FUN BEING ANGRY AT ME, ITALY LOVERS! LOL**


	2. Italy's Decision

**NOTE: At least this next chapter is going to explain what's going on. I think it's important that you HATE ME EVEN MORE THAN YOU ALREADY DO LOL!**

Italy looked at Austria's gigantic mansion. His black cloak whipped in the cool spring wind. He took a deep breath and walked to the doorstop.

Austria heard a knock at the door. He was very confused at why Italy wanted the four of them to meet up, especially this late. Hopefully he would find out.

He opened the door. For once, Italy's face was solemn and his eyes were open.

Austria spoke after a moment, thrown off by Italy's expression. "Come in. The others are waiting."

Italy gave a nod and walked into the mansion, removing his hood, the curl in his hair bouncing free.

He and Austria walked into the living room, where England and Prussia were waiting.

"Italy, what is this stupid meeting about?" England said, clearly annoyed.

"I'm going to get to that." Italy said, his sweet Italian accent contrasting the seriousness in his voice.

Prussia, for once, said nothing. He just assumed it had been some strange proposal planning session, but it appeared not to be the case.

Austria and Italy sat down. Italy began talking to the others. "Recently I was talking to Germany about when we were kids, when he was Holy Rome. The weird thing is," he looked right at Prussia. "He didn't even recognize his old name. Care to explain?"

Prussia's face went even paler than before, if that was even possible. "I… I hoped no one would find out." He said, his red eyes open with shock.

"What?" England asked, wondering what Prussia had to hide, a small hint of fear hidden in his sweet London accent.

"When Holy Rome fell and became Germany, I needed him to begin new, without his painful memories of the past. Especially…" he took a deep breath. "Especially his memories of Italy."

Austria gasped. England's eyes went wide in shock. Italy seemed to have guessed something like this had happened, since his expression remained the same.

Italy continued. "Anyway, it broke my heart to see him like that. I can understand why you would do that, but Holy Rome and I had so many good memories together, and it seems to be affecting our new relationship. He only sees me as a lovable, pasta-loving country whom he happens to love. I don't think he can ever be truly happy with me, at least, not without these memories."

"What does this have to do with our secret meeting?" England asked, sincerely confused.

"I was reading an old book. It was a book of magic," he paused, making sure he had peaked England's interest. "There was a potion in it that caught my eye. A memory transfer potion. But, it comes at an awful price." Italy looked at the floor.

England's green eyes widened. His familiarity with these sort of spells caused him to fear the worst. "You don't mean…"

Italy nodded. "In order to make the transfer, the memories must be taken from the dead."

Austria looked at him with wide, violet eyes, catching on to the plan. "You can't be serious…"

"Yes. I will have to die for Germany to remember our times together."

"So why are we here?" England asked, his expression serious. He had had experience with love, and he knew there was no way to sway Italy from his decision.

However, Prussia didn't understand this. "Are you an idiot? If you die, Germany won't have anyone! He'll be all alone!"

Italy gave a small smile. "That's not true. I'll always be there for him. Even in death, I'd never abandon my Doitsu."

"What do you need us to do?" Austria asked, trying to keep himself from crying.

"First of all, England is going to have to make the pendant the spell needs. I brought the book with me. The potion is on page fourteen"

England took the book. "I'll do it."

Italy turned to Prussia. "When I die, I'll have Germany take me back to his house. You'll need to get him out of the room and complete the spell. England will give you what you need. All you need to do is put a few drops of my blood on the pendant."

Prussia nodded, his solemn silence seemed to fill the room.

Then Italy turned to Austria. "You're task is probably the most challenging of them all. I am honestly sorry to ask you to do this." Italy said.

Austria swallowed nervously. He had no clue what he'd have to do.

Italy pulled a special knife out of his coat and handed it to Austria. The knife had the design of the HRE flag on the ebony handle. "When I tell you, kill me. I will call Germany before this so that he can take me to his house. Besides, I'd like to spend my final moments with him."

Austria's eyes widened. "Why me? You know that if I do anything to you, Hungary would kill me! Besides, I could never do such a thing! You're like a son to me!"

Italy smiled again. "You've always wanted my land. Now you can have it. Plus, you're the only country close to me who would kill me. Romano and Hungary couldn't even dream of it, and I need someone I can trust to do it with this knife!"

Austria realized that it was truly something he had to do. For Italy's sake. He glanced at the intricate knife in his hand and gripped it tighter. "I will."

Italy nodded. "Prussia, call me once you have the pendant. I'll go over to Austria's and then… you know…"

Prussia nodded. England and Austria looked at the items Italy had given them. "Any questions?" Italy asked the group.

England looked at Italy's amber eyes. "Yes. Why are you willing to sacrifice everything for Germany?"

Even though he understood a lot about love, doing all of this for a few memories was crazy, even if they did make Germany happier.

Italy gave a small chuckle. "That's easy," Tears fell from his eyes. "I love him with all my heart."

Two weeks later, Italy's phone rang. When he saw the caller ID, his heart stopped for a moment. This was it. It was time. He picked up the phone. "Are we good to go?" he asked seriously.

"Yes. Ready when you are. Remember, you don't have to go through with it." Prussia's voice was filled with sorrow, his plea making Italy's eyes tear up.

"I can't give up now. This is for Germany."

With this, Italy hung up before Prussia could talk him out of it. He looked in the mirror, seeing his reflection one last time.

Before he gave himself the chance to cry, he pulled on his jacket and walked to Austria's house. He didn't want Germany to see his car parked outside of Austria's place; that would raise too much suspicion.

He was soon on the front doorstep. Before he could chicken out, he called Germany. On the third ring, a familiar voice drifted through his cell phone. "Hello?" Germany asked.

Italy made his voice seem panicked. "Germany! I'm trapped in Austria's house!"

A sigh came through his phone. "I'll be right over."

Italy hung up and sighed. No going back now. He knocked on the door. Austria soon opened it.

As soon as he saw Italy, his face fell.

Italy looked at him. "It's time."

He and Austria walked into the living room. Austria picked up the knife he'd had ready for the last few weeks. Italy decided to lie on the floor. The violet eyes country walked over and kneeled down to the country who felt like a son to him.

His eyes teared up as his hands began to shake. "I… I can't…"

Italy looked at him and grabbed Austria's arms, steadying them. "It'll be okay. Remember, you're just doing a favor for your friend."

Austria nodded, wiping his eyes on his sleeves. He held the knife with both hands, holding it above Italy's gut. The Italian closed his eyes. Before he could hesitate again, he plunged the knife into Italy's gut. The country let out a small cry of pain.

Austria watched as blood began to soak Italy's blue uniform. He let out a small sob as Italy's eyes widened from the pain.

He bent down and hugged the country, soaking his own outfit in blood. Italy spoke to Austria, "It's okay. Please don't cry. I asked for this. Don't feel bad…"

He heard the door being pushed open. Italy made an involuntary sound of pain as Austria dropped him on the floor in fear.

Footsteps came quickly towards them, growing louder with each step. Italy looked at Austria, then he glanced at the knife.

Austria understood the message. He took the knife and once more forced the blade into Italy. Blood came from the new wound.

The footsteps stopped. Austria looked at the doorway to see the blonde soldier staring in disbelief.

In a moment his gun was drawn. Austria immediately braced himself for the bullet, but it didn't hit him. He glanced at Italy, who gave him a nod, as if it was a signal for him to leave.

Austria didn't hesitate to bolt out of the room, nearly on the verge of tears. Italy looked at Germany.

Italy tried to speak to Germany, but his voice was shaky. "You made it…"

Germany was kneeling next to him. Italy saw panic in the soldier's eyes. "You're going to be fine, don't worry. I won't let you die… You can't die…" his lover's voice brought the dying country peace.

"Germany…" Italy whispered. "You don't have to be sad…"

The last thing he wanted was for Germany to be upset. His only hope in life was to see Germany happy all of the time. Sadly, this couldn't be true.

Germany began crying heavily. "Don't talk like that!" he said to Italy.

Italy rarely saw Germany cry, but when he did, it was painful. In an attempt to comfort him, he lifted a shaking hand and touched his face. "Please… don't cry. I don't like it when you do that."

Italy felt Germany's tears run over his hand. His heart beat faster; suddenly he didn't want to die. He couldn't leave Germany like this; but he had to. He felt his blood on the floors around him. He grew dizzy; there wasn't much time.

He couldn't look at Germany; he couldn't do that without him seeing the guilt written all over his face. "Germany," he began to say, trying to stay calm. "Take me to your house. I need to go there. When I die."

Germany looked into his eyes. "I will."

Italy gave a small sigh of relief. At least he was reassured that the plan would work. His vision began to go in and out of focus; everything started to spin.

Before he could hesitate another moment, he pulled Germany in for a kiss.

It was the best moment of his life. But then he remembered that he'd never be able to do it ever again. Just for a moment, he allowed a tear to escape his sad eyes.

He suddenly felt his wounds pulse. He pulled away from Germany and gave a final breath.

And then the world went dark.

 **NOTE: I figured, in order to make my HEARTLESS FRIEND cry at this, I'd give you Italy's death from his point of view, but for another reason also. I feel you should understand the situation a little more. Also, for those who are reading Hiding Myself and are wondering why I haven't posted in a while, I've decided to post a chapter of any three fanfics I'm working on at least once a week.**


	3. When Hungary Found Out

**NOTE: sorry for delayed update! Here is my work of art!**

Prussia grabbed his knife that was hanging at his side. He glanced down the hallway to see if his brother was coming, and, too his relief, saw that the door remained closed. He didn't want to explain why he was sitting next to Italy with a knife in his hand. Especially after the way the young Italian had died.

He quietly grabbed Italy's hand and cut his palm in a deep stroke. He watched as the slow blood fell from the wound. He squeezed the dead country's hand, causing more blood to drip out. He had half expected the body to wince in pain, but Italy was dead; he could not feel any of this. Prussia placed the plain pendant on Italy's palm and closed the dead hand, blood covering the stone in the middle of the necklace.

Italy had enchanted the knife so that only the memories of Holy Rome would transfer. Prussia was at least glad for this, since his brother didn't need any more of the Italian's memories than he needed. Especially the secret meeting. That was something he would tell him about in his own time.

Prussia opened Italy's hand with his own shaking ones, seeing the pendant with the cursed red liquid covering it. Blood had been smeared across its surface, and the blood now covered Italy's palm as well. Prussia immediately cleaned off Italy's hand. The once plain stone was now yellow with black speckles in it. Prussia felt a tear roll down his cheek, immediately wiping it away. Awesome countries don't cry! At least, that is what he always told himself.

He carefully wiped the blood from the pendant with his handkerchief. He put the small thing in his pocket before whipping out his cell phone. There was someone he had to call.

Hungary was walking back from her little trip to the market. For some reason, Austria had given her an exceptionally long list of things he "forgot" to tell her he needed. She smiled, hoping nothing was wrong. Maybe he was planning something? Besides, what could go wrong on a beautiful day like this?

She suddenly felt her phone vibrate. She reached into her dress pocket to see that… Prussia was calling her? She quickly answered, wondering what he could be calling about. The country hadn't called her since… she couldn't even remember when.

"Hungary!" his usual loud voice seemed to be quieter and raspier than usual, like he was trying to keep his voice down.

"Yes, Prussia, what is it?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Are you at home?"

"No, I'm heading back now."

"Whatever you do, don't go inside!"

Hungary stopped. Usually Prussia didn't seem this panicked. She hoped it was a joke. "Is this a prank of yours?"

"No! I'm serious! Don't go in your house!" his voice was urgent.

Hungary was confused. "Tell me why, and MAYBE I'll listen to you!"

Prussia didn't reply. He didn't know what to tell her, the truth was too awful, and lying was pointless. "Just… trust me, just this once!" he pleaded.

Hungary thought about this for a moment. "No!" she said, hanging up before Prussia could protest.

The awesome country put his head in his hands and muttered a curse. He couldn't avoid it. She would find out eventually… there was nothing he could protect his friend from now.

Hungary walked up to the front door and found it unlocked. This was strange; Austria usually had it bolted at all times.

She went ahead and walked in. The house was silent. Usually there would be a piano playing, or Austria would hear the door and come greet her. Yet, nothing happened. The house seemed… deserted.

She lifted her hidden frying pan, fearing that she'd need to protect herself. She cautiously walked further into the house, cursing her boots for being so loud. She carefully walked into the living room.

She nearly screamed. Blood covered the floor. There were red footsteps that appeared to be running out of the room. After following them, she found a bloody knife. She carefully picked it up and turned it over.

On the handle of it, there was a design. She immediately recognized it as Holy Rome's flag.

But why would that be there? They had agreed never to even mention him ever since he left Italy. Could Austria own this knife? Was he even alive?

She whipped out her cell phone and called Prussia. Obviously he knew something; he had explicitly told her to not go in the house, so he HAD to be able to tell her the situation!

Prussia heard his phone ring and saw Hungary's name pop up on the caller ID. He sucked in a shallow breath. His shaking hand lifted the phone. If there was something that made him feel un-awesome, it had to be making his friends upset, and he was involved with this entire situation.

He answered it and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

Hungary's small cries were coming in through the speaker. Prussia had never heard her cry like this. "I'll be right over!" he called into the phone before she could speak.

Hungary heard the connection get cut off. She felt the tears stream down her face freely as she walked to the front door to wait for Prussia. Even if he was a creepy pervert, she needed someone to be with her.

After a few minutes a jeep pulled up to the house. The albino German leapt out of it and ran to the front door, which Hungary had opened for him. Within seconds, Hungary was in his arms as sobs came from her shaking figure.

"P-Prussia, what's going on?" she asked quietly, able to calm down after a few minutes inside.

"Well, what do you want to know?" he asked softly, holding her comfortingly.

"Who died?"

Prussia's arms stiffened. He couldn't tell Hungary that! He didn't love her, but he certainly didn't want her to cry.

Hungary felt the Prussian's arms stiffen and she became worried. Prussia would never show weakness like this, especially not in front of a girl!

Prussia cleared his throat. "I told West I wanted to tell you myself, but I don't think I can…"

Hungary interrupted him. "I need to know! Please, I just want someone to tell me…"

Prussia sighed. "You see… Italy was killed." He whispered, trying to keep himself from crying.

Hungary stiffened. No, this didn't make sense. Italy couldn't be dead… he was like a son to her… he couldn't have died… who would even kill him? He was the nicest of all the countries!

Before she could stop herself, she broke out into loud sobs. She stood there, and Prussia tried to comfort her, also crying at this point. He knew that she would want to know who had killed her Italy, but that was something that he felt shouldn't be revealed for a while.

Soon, Hungary couldn't cry any longer. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red. Prussia's jacket was soaked through with tears. Prussia simply held her as her breaths became even. "You better now?" he asked quietly.

Prussia felt a nod come from Hungary. "Do you want to see Italy?"

Another nod. Prussia carefully picked her up and carried her to his jeep. She nuzzled close to his chest, trying to get some sort of comfort from him, wanting another person near her. She was calmed by his steady heartbeat.

The drive to his house was quiet and slow. He didn't want to disturb Hungary, especially since they were about to see Italy's body. She, in turn, was silent.

He got out of the jeep and helped Hungary out. Her legs and arms were stiff and shaky, but she could still walk with him. The walk to the door was like an eternity that ended too soon for comfort.

He quietly walked in to find Germany in the kitchen, holding a bottle of beer. His jacket was missing and his hair was disheveled. His eyes were red and there were tearstains on his face. When he saw Hungary, he stood and went to his room. It was obvious that he was embarrassed to be seen in such a state.

Prussia had never seen Germany act so… clueless. Usually he would try to at least pretend everything was alright; rarely had he gone through a grieving like this. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself. It would only get worse in time. He felt the necklace in his pocket; suddenly it felt heavy, like a burden he had to carry. A burden of guilt and sorrow. He shook it off and looked at Hungary.

"Are you sure about this?" his eyes were filled with concern that rarely appeared there.

Hungary took a deep breath and nodded. Prussia took her hand and led her over to their sofa.

Italy's face was uncovered and had been cleaned of any blood that had been on it. There was a small bouquet of flowers in Italy's hands. Germany had apparently prepared the body for the countries about to come into their house.

As soon as Hungary saw him, she froze. Without even meaning to, she fell to her knees. It felt like a thousand knives were being stabbed into her heart. The feeling brought tears to her eyes.

He was really dead. She didn't want to believe it, but here was his body. There was no way to deny it. She let out dry sobs, her eyes had run out of tears to cry. Prussia bent down and gave Hungary a hug, trying to comfort her.

Hungary began to speak, her voice dry and broken. "Italy… Italy… ITALY!" she screamed, as if trying to call him back to the land of the living. She buried her face into Prussia's shoulders, her shoulders shaking.

Prussia suddenly remembered about the pendant in his pocket. It seemed to be a mark of treachery, burning into his soul, guilt weighing down on his shoulders as he realized what he had done. He may have not done the deed, but he allowed it to happen. It was like watching an innocent being executed.

Hungary kept screaming into Prussia's chest, sending another surge of guilt through him. He couldn't do this anymore. He could barely contain himself, the guilt pushing in on him from all sides, seeming to smother him.

Prussia and Hungary spent the next ten minutes crying in each other's arms, each trying to comfort the other. These attempts were fruitless, however, as the two could only cry harder and harder.

After a long while, Prussia stood up and brought Hungary over to a nearby chair. He sat down and helped the female country into his lap. She curled up next to him, tears streaming down her face, her energy for sobbing had left her at last. Prussia simply stroked her hair and tried to hold back his own tears.

They sat like this for an hour. During this time, the countries Germany had called filed into their house, wanting to see Italy.

Romano and Spain were the first ones to arrive. Prussia had known it was them because of the squealing tires that marked an Italian speeding into a driveway. Romano didn't shed a tear, but it was obvious he was holding them back, his amazing self-control was near superhuman. After ten minutes of seeing his dead brother, he and Spain left, this time the Spaniard driving. One cannot spend forever without crying, apparently.

Next came Japan. He simply came in and shed a few tears for Italy; no one in that room had ever seen him show that much emotion about something. He got up and gave Prussia and Hungary a comforting hug, and they accepted the kindness. After this, Japan left.

Next, Belgium came. As Italy's friend, she had rushed over to Germany's house, hoping that it wasn't true, even though she knew it was. Her mind set was very similar to Hungary's, her grieving nearly just as violent. She spent a long time at the German's house, simply sobbing and clinging to Italy's dead body.

England soon came after her departure. After shedding a few tears for Italy, he motioned for Prussia to talk to him. The albino country then placed a now sleeping Hungary onto the chair and stood.

"What is it, England?" he asked in an almost annoyed voice.

"When do you plan on giving the pendant to your brother?" he asked seriously.

Prussia's hand dove into his pocket, gripping the cold stone. "Soon."

England sighed. "Are you scared about him getting his memories back?"

Prussia shook his head. "I'm just worried that he'll hate me. Eventually he'll get all of the memories back, even the ones Italy doesn't have. I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Prussia, we did the right thing!" England said in a fairly annoyed voice.

Neither of the countries saw Hungary open her eyes slightly, having been awoken by the sound of England's small shout.

"Look, I know that! I'm just worried about West!" Prussia insisted.

England looked at Prussia. "That is unavoidable! Is that really ALL that you're worried about? Did you even forget about Austria's part in this? What he must think of himself right now?"

Hungary had to use all of her energy from gasping in surprise. What did her precious Austria have to do with any of this? She closed her eyes and continued listening, just in case they looked at her.

"Yes, I know what he did, and I know what this is all for, but I don't think I can go through with this!"

England's voice sounded stern, almost angry. "Look, do you have the pendant ready?"

Prussia nodded. "Yeah, I'm not completely unreliable!" Hungary heard Prussia take something out of his pocket.

"Well, it looks like you got that part over with. Did anyone see you do it? Has anyone figured it out yet?" England said, worried.

Prussia sighed. "Nobody has any clue about this, I promise. I was all alone when I did it."

Hungary was confused. What had Prussia done? It seemed to involve Italy, England, Germany, and probably Austria, from the sound of it. What was going on?

England sighed. "Prussia, I would give your brother the necklace if I could. But he hates me, so he probably wouldn't believe any of the memories. Besides, I think it would all be better coming from his brother."

Hungary's head was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. What were these memories? What was going on?

"Yeah, well he probably would've taken all of this the best from Italy! Did you ever think of that?" Prussia sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Italy knew what he was getting himself into, but I guess he forgot that it would take a while for Germany to accept all of this without him. We just need to keep moving! His death will not have been in vain!" England sounded sad, a little brave, and very hopeless.

"I just wish that this hadn't happened…" Prussia was _definitely_ crying now.

England sighed. "I do, too. If Austria wasn't running away right now, he probably would've said the same thing."

Hungary panicked slightly. What was he running away from? What was going to happen to everyone?

Prussia's phone rang. "It's Austria!" he said excitedly, quickly answering.

"Where are you?" Pause. "Hungary's at my house." Pause. "Well, I can't exactly explain this to her!" Pause. "Well, man up and call her!" Pause. "Of course she'll be mad at you! What did you expect?" Pause. "She can't be mad forever! She'll understand why!" Pause. "Fine, I'll tell her! But you owe me one, bro!"

Hungary heard Prussia hang up. "We need to wake up Hungary."

She heard the two men walk over to her. Prussia nudged her. "Hungary… wake up…"

She peeled open her eyes, pretending to have just woken up. "We need to talk." Prussia said, helping her to her feet.

So England, Prussia, and Hungary took a walk to a park near the estate. She could tell that those two needed to tell her something about Austria, but she couldn't figure out what it was. But if he was involved in Italy's death… she honestly didn't want to think about it.

They found a bench underneath a great oak tree. England gestured for her to sit. She reluctantly obliged, knowing that this was not going to be easy to take.

"Hungary… there is something Prussia needs to tell you." England said, obviously throwing Prussia under the metaphorical bus. The albino seemed scared and angry at the Englishman.

"Well… Hungary… you see…" Prussia took in a deep breath and sighed, knowing it was better not to wait. "Austria was the one who killed Italy."

Hungary gasped. Her hands flew up to her mouth. She stared at the ground, tears falling down her cheeks again as her arms shook. "No… he… he'd never do that… you're lying… why would you lie to me…" her voice shook.

It took the men everything in them to not cry at this. They knew that she might go into denial, but they didn't realize it would hurt them this much.

Prussia sat down next to Hungary and held her close to him. "I'm sorry."

He felt Hungary begin to sob harder. "NO! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME?!" she hit him, her arms too weak to bring him any pain.

England sat down next to them and placed his hand on Hungary's shoulder comfortingly. There wasn't much else he could do; he barely knew the country! But he was a gentleman, and, as a gentleman, it was his duty to comfort a lady.

Hungary's mind put all of the pieces into place that she could. Austria had killed Italy, England and Prussia were aware of this the whole time, and it all had something to do with memories.

"Hungary," Prussia said softly. "It'll be okay. Everything will be okay, eventually."

Hungary knew these words. She had said them before; and they were lies. She had said them to her precious Italy when Holy Rome disappeared, but he never seemed quite so cheerful or carefree after that. And now she was being fed the same exact lie.

And she wanted with all her heart to believe every word of it.

 **NOTE: again, sorry this is a little late, but I've been fairly busy. I'll try to have more frequent updates. On the side note…**

 **This does NOT support Hungary x Prussia; they are simply friends that are grieving together. No need to get ship-crazy over this! Who am I kidding… you are the fandom's members, and you will ALWAYS go ship-crazy… I can't stop you…**

 **Leave a review, pleases! :3**


	4. Running

**NOTE: This is set in Austria's perspective. Have fun with that! Also, some of you may have realized that Germany didn't call Hungary. You know why? HIS PHONE DIED. He also didn't get around to a few other countries... BECAUSE PLOT CONVENIENCE THAT'S WHY.**

As soon as he had dropped the knife, he had ran out of his house. Once out, he abandoned his ruined jacket in the bushes and fled his estate.

He had just killed Italy. A boy who was like his son. Tears began to sting his purple eyes as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

He didn't know how far he had run. It had only been an hour since he had left his house. The mansion was now only a faraway dot on the horizon. He panted, trying to catch his breath.

Austria was now standing in the middle of a field. It wasn't very large, and it mostly just had some knee-length grass. It seemed almost abandoned. At least he wouldn't be bothered. Or caught.

Nevermind…

America suddenly came out of the woods, running toward Austria. "Yo, dude! What are you doing in this field, bro?" he asked, a big "hero" grin on his face (sorry for the weird America talk :P)

"Oh… just… resting…" he panted, trying to think of a good lie.

America smiled. "That's cool, bro! But…" he paused. "Why would you come all the way out here? And why are you out of breath?"

Austria gulped. He couldn't get out of this! Or could he…

"Hungary was chasing me with her frying pan. Again." He lied to the American.

The blonde nodded. "Completely understood, bro."

America immediately perked up again. "Dude, you want to come over to my place for a while?"

Austria nodded. It may not be hidden, but no country dared to break into America's house, so it had to be safe! He hoped…

He nodded and America smiled, dragging the pianist to his great mansion of freedom and burgers (because AMERICA JUST ROLLS LIKE THAT).

Soon, Austria found himself on America's couch, sipping some hot cocoa (since tea was unavailable) and chatting about anything other than the state of America's economy. That was a very touchy subject.

America slowly realized that something seemed off. The usually composed and stingy pianist seemed kind of nervous; his eyes darting across the room every once in a while. And his coat was missing. Why would his coat be missing? And his clothes seemed slightly ruffled… this couldn't be about Hungary chasing him. This was bigger. And then he noticed the final clue…

"Dude," America said nervously. "What's on your face?"

Austria's hand flew to his cheek. There was dried blood near his chin, which he immediately rubbed off. "It's nothing."

America shook his head. "It was _definitely_ something. Tell me!"

Austria shook his head forcefully, unable to look the American in the eye.

The blonde grabbed Austria's shirt collar and pulled him up until they were eye level. "Tell. Me. NOW." He said through clenched teeth. Usually he didn't get that angry, but if something was up, he needed to know.

Austria seemed enraged. "You don't need to know what it was! It's none of your business!"

In one swift motion, America had thrown Austria back onto his couch and had aimed his handgun at the pianist's head.

"I think I need to know."

Austria gulped. He knew that America would make good on this threat. But could he just tell him the truth?

America's phone began to ring. Austria felt both relieved and even more nervous. What could this be about?

"Hello… Yes… What?" America seemed to gasp in confusion. "No… There's no way… Okay… Thanks England."

Austria gulped as the American lowered the phone from his ear. He heard a click from the gun in his hands.

America stared into Austria's violet eyes. The eyes of a murderer. The murderer of Italy. His friend, gone forever. He put his finger on the trigger.

Austria half expected a bullet to the brain. But no gunshot rang out. Only the swift punch connecting with his nose in a sickening crack.

Austria's hands flew to his nose as pain surged through his face. He glanced up to see America with tears in his eyes.

"Why?" the blonde choked out a sob. "Why did you kill him?"

Austria couldn't look him in the eye. "ANSWER ME!" America's voice was pleading, full of shock and distress.

"I… I can't tell you!" Austria felt himself on the verge of tears, both from physical pain and the fact that he had murdered Italy.

America's blue eyes were like ice, his expression angry. He had never gotten this mad at a country before. But this was different… a whole different situation...

"Why can't you tell me?!" he yelled at Austria.

The pianist looked down. He had never felt more afraid of America. Why did he insist on knowing? The entire situation seemed impossible. In fact, it was ridiculous. It was actually… _funny_.

America's eyes widened at the soft chuckle that came from Austria. This grew into a loud, insane laugh that only came from the crazed. "You… you want to know why I did it?!" Austria laughed.

The blonde's eyes were wide with fear and shock. He shook slightly. How did such a level headed country become like this?

"Italy asked for it… he handed me a knife… and he ASKED me to KILL HIM!" Austria laughed, madness in his eyes, laughing seeming to be his way of dealing with everything.

"Calm down, dude. This isn't like you… you'd never laugh at something like this…" America pleaded calmly.

Austria looked at the younger country. "Why should I calm down… it's so funny… he _asked_ me to kill him…" the crazed country's smile remained wide as tears fell down his cheeks.

"Did he… actually ask you to kill him?" America asked skeptically. Having never dealt with anything like this before, there was no way to actually know.

"Oh, yes. Just ask England and Prussia… they were there… they saw it happen… they're in on the whole thing…" Austria seemed to have regained some of his sanity.

"No… Iggy wouldn't do that! He wouldn't let someone be killed!" America said, refusing to believe a thing that Austria said.

"If that's what you think," Austria looked into America's eyes, all insanity seemed to disappear for a moment in his violet eyes. "Then I don't think you know your father."

America's hands shook in rage.

"I'll prove you wrong!"

"Go ahead!" Austria laughed again.

America whipped out his cell phone. He went to contacts. He stared at _England_ and his thumb hovered over the "call" button. Did he really want to know?

Swallowing his insecurities, he pressed the button before he paused again.

The phone rang.

And rang.

And rang.

And then _he_ picked up.

"Hello, America. Is everything all right?" the British man spoke into his phone, still in the park with Prussia and Hungary.

"No, actually," America said, sounding annoyed and betrayed. "Austria told me that you and Prussia were involved in this whole thing. Is that true?"

A long pause came from the other end. Why would England wait that long to reply to him?

"It's true."

Two words. Two words and it felt like the whole world just broke again. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. There was too much…

"Why?" he choked out, starting to cry.

"I promise I'll tell you later, in person. Is that alright?" England asked, trying to be a little comforting.

"Fine. What time?" America tried to compose himself.

"Is four alright with you?" The Brit asked, trying to sound calm.

America smiled a little, despite the circumstances. "Yeah, that's good. See you then."

And he hung up.

America looked at Austria. "You are the cruelest country I have ever met."

 **NOTE: ok, sorry if you were expecting me to update one of my other fanfics. But this hopefully turned out well. Thanks for reading and stuff! Oh yeah, and I don't own Hetalia or anything like that** **And if you are angry at the way I wrote Austria in this, then go ahead and be all flame and hate. I am fine with that**

 **Oh yeah, if you noticed a plot hole in this, let me know! Also, AUSTRIA DIDN'T HAVE BLOOD ON HIS PANTS BECAUSE HE HAS A LONG JACKET.**


	5. An Explanation

**NOTE: Okay, we're back to the park with Iggy, Prussia, and Miss Hungary! Have fun with this one! Prepare for feels, sadness, and America punching stuff!**

 **Hetalia is not mine, if it was there would be some crazy ships… PRUSSIA X ITALY**

England had just ended his call with America. Hungary was breathing shakily, Prussia rubbing her back comfortingly.

"We need to go meet with America." England said to Prussia.

"Can we bring Hungary?"

England hesitated. "I don't know… she's been through enough as it is."

Hungary shook her head at this, sniffing. "No, I want to go."

England, still looking hesitant, sighed. "Alright. We need to go to America's house then."

And so the three of them drove off to America's house. With each moment England and Prussia got closer to their doom, as Hungary and America got closer to the truth.

Meanwhile, America was dealing with Austria. And by "dealing with", I mean he tied him to a chair in his living room.

"Now Austria, when Iggy gets here, you need to be quiet, okay?" he told the man in front of him.

"I don't understand why you tied me up!" Austria said, now back to his normal self (he just had to get his insanity out).

America sighed. "I can't let you escape. You have to explain this to me, too! I bet Iggy is also bringing Prussia, if that makes you feel better. You can all feel uncomfortable together, you filthy liars!"

Austria sighed, not wanting to argue with the superpower. Hopefully the others would arrive soon…

*Twenty minutes later*

England pulled up in America's driveway, looking at his house of freedom and burgers (as mentioned before, he JUST ROLLS LIKE THAT). This almost made him smile. He would never admit it, but he sort of enjoyed his ex-colony's antics, especially when Germany got that angry look on his face. Priceless!

But then he remembered why he was there, and his stomach seemed to drop so far that it was falling through the earth. Why did it feel like everything these days was like an interrogation? He shook it off, quickly exiting the car, followed by Prussia, who was helping a weak and grieving Hungary.

The trio walked up to the front door and England knocked. After a moment, the door was opened by America, looking like a strange combination of angry, sad, and annoyed. "Hello, America." England said quietly.

The superpower nodded politely and gestured to let them in. He was, however, seemingly shocked to see Hungary there, but he didn't question it, seeing as she was practically attached to Prussia like he was a lifeline. But, considering her current emotional state, he practically was.

They all gathered in the living room, Austria still tied to the chair. If looks could kill, Hungary's would have murdered him, burned his face, and destroy his vital regions (his cities, you perverts).

Prussia couldn't help but feel relief for two reasons. One, Hungary didn't have her frying pan. Two, Austria wouldn't be escaping this explanation.

After they had all sat down, England felt some déjà vu with this; a solemn mood, a sense of dread, a normally silly country being dead serious…

America spoke first. "I would like for you guys to explain why this all happened. I feel like I deserve to know!"

"Me too!" Hungary mumbled quietly, sounding a little angry.

While England and Prussia were shocked that Hungary suspected them, they decided to just ignore it and find out later.

"Well…" England's words were quickly lost. "Prussia, will you take this one?"

The albino looked at him. "I will not! I already had to break the news to Hungary, you explain this! Besides, America was your colony!"

England sighed, knowing that Prussia would not give this up. Oh well, he had a good run, as far as nations go. "Well, it all started when Italy decided to hold a secret meeting. Hungary was out for the night, so we held it at Austria's house. It was just me, Prussia, Italy, and Austria.

"Prussia and I arrived before Italy, so we just talked with Austria. When Italy finally got there, he was wearing a dark cloak, and his eyes were open. He looked serious and a little nervous, so I think that is what first got us worried."

America, so far, was taking everything rather well, listening intently. Hungary, however, looked conflicted. What did this have to do with her son's murder? Was he involved somehow? But… why would Italy be involved with his own death?

England, after making sure everyone understood so far, continued his story. "Anyways, he began to speak to us about Germany's childhood as the Holy Roman Empire."

Hungary was now more intrigued, thinking back to the knife. England was about to continue, but then Prussia put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'll explain this part."

The ex-nation cleared his throat nervously. "Well, Italy found something out that I've been hiding for the last few centuries or so, possibly even longer. When my bruder Holy Rome became Germany, I knew that he was having trouble getting over the war and Italy, so I took away his memories of that time. It seemed like a few centuries of being basically dead couldn't take those away from him… I just wanted him to have a fresh start."

At this, Hungary stared darkly at Prussia, a look of anger and disbelief sharpening her normally soft features. The albino looked down in shame as England picked up the story.

"Anyways, Italy got to the part of why he called us there. He had found a book with a spell in it that would give Germany his memories of when he was Holy Rome. But it came at a terrible price."

Realization showed up on Hungary and America's faces as they figured out what England was saying.

"Therefore, he gave me the task of creating the pendant to transfer the memories, Prussia the job of completing the memory transfer, and Austria the task of killing him."

Hungary stared at the three guilty nations, shock, horror, and pain written all over her face. America stared blankly at nothing, as if processing everything in his own little world. Hungary turned to Prussia. "So you have the necklace?"

He nodded. "You want to see it?"

Once Hungary gave the slightest nod of her head, he reached into the pocket of his blue uniform and pulled out the pendant.

She held out her hands to take it. "Nein," Prussia said. "You shouldn't hold this."

It took England only a moment to realize why. Of course Hungary shouldn't hold it; it was made with magic and Italy's blood! Besides, there could be an accidental transfer.

"He's right."

Hungary sighed lightly and looked at it. She saw the simple jewel, colored yellow and black. Tears pricked at her emerald eyes as she became lost in her immeasurable pain. The jewel made in the hands of a traitor, passed between many, carrying its solemn message. The chain it hung from, taut with the weight of countless tears, the pain on a nation's shoulders. Covered in the blood of the innocent, Italy's blood, polished until not a trace remained. While it may have been a beautiful item on the outside, she knew of the pain it hid under its crystalline exterior.

Prussia put away the necklace, his ruby eyes meeting the pain in Hungary's green ones. He turned away.

"Austria," Hungary's voice shook with the overwhelming pain of loss. "How did Italy die?"

The nation who had held back for most of the conversation looked up, painful memories fleeting over his violet eyes. "What do you want to know?"

Hungary looked at the floor. "Was it quick? Was he in pain? Did he die happy? And how did you kill him with that knife?" Her gaze met the pianist's as she asked, no, pleaded for her questions to be answered.

He looked at her before starting. "Well, he came to my house this morning, and I knew that it was time. So we went into the living room, and he lay down on the floor. I kneeled down next to him and stabbed him once," he paused for a moment to compose himself. "He let out a small cry of pain, but that was it. I remember… his uniform… his blood… my dagger… his eyes… he… he wasn't angry…" Austria felt the streams of tears on his face.

Hungary watched as Austria's shoulders shook from his quiet cries, tears falling from his eyes. Guilt seemed to come from everyone in that room… everyone but her and America. Three countries. One murder.

A thousand regrets.

Hungary looked over at Prussia. "Maybe you should just get this over with." She said quietly.

Prussia stared at her in wide eyes. "What?!"

She nodded. "If you do it now, you won't have to deal with the guilt for very long. Besides, you are probably getting all worked up over nothing!" she grinned the fakest smile she had ever worn. Even faker than the one she had during the War of Austrian Succession.

Prussia continued to stare at her, seeming to think about what she had said.

"I'll do it."

And he added in his own thoughts, _for Italy. And for you._

 **NOTE: yeah, this is late, I know. Just letting you know that I moved a few weeks ago and this new school is KILLING ME. So that is my excuse for lack of updates. Anyways, the next chapter will deal with Germany's grieving process, and then we get the whole "here are some memories" scene. Take the poll on my page, and have a good day/night!**


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